Change Your Image
amend71008
Reviews
Salma (2013)
Great documentary
This woman endured so much, but still managed to stay strong, secretly writing poetry on bits of newspaper, with a pen she concealed in the lavatory, to express her frustrated dreams. Amazingly, after struggling to national recognition and escaping, she forgave the family that imprisoned her for so many years. She now goes back to the village where she was both prisoner and outcast and cooks meals for her very difficult family, confronts her husband and gently prods her nephew and sons into some enlightenment about a woman's role in society. Some scenes had the audience rolling on the floor, as when her nephew seriously and sagely advises her that the burqa is good for her, protects her modesty and also protects men -- who are "scientifically proved" to be ten times faster than women to become aroused(!) I left the screening at the San Francisco Film Festival with that hard to describe positive sensation, maybe it's called hope.
Norteado (2009)
This film will surprise you.
I saw this film at the San Francisco International Film Festival and, quite frankly, had very low expectations. What a surprise! The film opens with a stark introduction to the brutal desert path to the fabled North. Andres, the central character, is from Oaxaca, which is the second poorest stated in Mexico. I know Oaxaca pretty well and there is very little opportunity there. Young men especially want to get out and go North where there is opportunity -- even if that opportunity is only a plastics factory in North Carolina. It is no coincidence that Andres' little daughter was named after that state.
What was so striking about this film was its minimalist approach to a universal story of conflict between a personal dream and social responsibility. None of the characters has any direct knowledge of life in the U.S. -- it's an El Dorado type of dream for them, but it represents hope. Neatly layered on "the dream" is the conflict between selfishness and selflessness. The isolated female characters struggle with the need to escape their solitude and loneliness and their desire to help Andres achieve the dream. Even the mercenary local meat mogul moves from wanting to see Andres out of the picture and wanting to see him succeed. All of this is accomplished with "real" dialog -- no big speeches and no artificial situations. They are poor and lonely people trying to make sense of a world where the deck is very definitely stacked against them. Every member of the cast delivers a solid performance.
Another nice point about this film is the director's mastery of imagery. In the bleak Immigration office, the focus on is on the portraits of President Bush and Gov. Scharzenegger of California and so clearly say "you lose" that we don't need any more. Similarly, when the women connect with Andres, there is a fabulous but simple image that is drawn directly from traditional Mexican postcard portraits.
Eating Out: All You Can Eat (2009)
A sequel far superior to its predecessors
I was in the audience for Eating Out (Part One) at the LGBT Frameline film festival and, frankly, would have walked out if I hadn't been trapped in the middle of the row. That having been said, I really enjoyed this sequel to a sequel of a sequel. The downside is that either the acting is still facile and sophomoric (the fatal flaw in the earlier film) or the direction was lacking. The upside is that the snappy one-liners are now really zingy one-liners, which may indicate that the problem was with the direction and not the cast. Confessionally, the nudity was a huge(okay, pun intended) plus. Michael E.R. Walker, in a supporting role,does double duty. If you want a deep,thought-provoking film that probes the gay psyche, this is not your film. If you would like to laugh (a lot) and, yes, be titillated, you won't go wrong.
Sonbahar (2008)
Wow!
I saw this film at the San Francisco International Film Festival and the audience was ecstatic. Fans of Bela Tarr will appreciate the scenes with no dialog, but which still deliver more information than a babbling script could have delivered about a troubled political prisoner and a conflicted nation in a confused world. The cinematography, from the "central chair" in the home to the snowy mountains of northern Turkey were amazing. One issue that I wish that I had looked at before seeing the film was the history of Turkish/Russian relations. This is a major theme. In a similar vein for those of us who have read and loved the novels of Orhan Pamuk, we westerners learn something very important about a vibrant but conflicted country. I gave this 9 stars based on content first, with cinematography a very close second. The lead actor is incredible and this is a new director to be watched.